a. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains generally to an electrophysiological device and method for providing energy to biological tissue and, more particularly, to an ablation apparatus with greater contact sensitivity.
b. Background Art
Ablation devices, including radio frequency (“RF”) ablation devices, have heretofore been provided, but not using a pressure sensitive conductive composite (“PSCC”) based electrodes (including, for example, quantum tunneling composites (“QTC”) and other pressure-sensitive, conductive polymers).
Many medical procedures, including for example, creating lesions with electrical energy, rely on good contact between the medical device and the tissue. In some catheter applications, the point of electrode-tissue contact is typically 150 cm away from the point of application of force. This gives rise to functional and theoretical challenges associated with conventional devices, and thus, the ability to accurately assess tissue contact is increasingly important, especially in connection with ablation treatment.
There is a need for improved ablation devices that provide greater contact sensitivity for control of ablation treatments using electrical energy.
There is a need for improved ablation devices that provide greater contact sensitivity for RF ablation treatments.
There is also a need for improved ablation devices that better concentrate the RF energy to the region of tissue that is in contact with the electrode.